Human beings have always tried to expand our borders, go further than the last, and essentially be better and bolder. Take for example, the race to space, America vs. Russian intelligence for the moon. Advances in science and civilization have always been about competition.

Food is no stranger to these sort of gatherings and competitions. For years humans have gone head to head against each other to see who could eat the most, the fastest, and now we have added taste. I’m not entirely sure when we became obsessed with eating spicy food but at one point, I think we took it too far.

I am not referring to the spicy food that comes in light sauces like BBQ or salsa. I am talking about the tongue numbing, roof of your mouth burning, forget about having taste buds ever again- kind of condiments that really leaves you wondering, was that really worth it?

Long gone are the days where a simple hot dog eating contest would suffice this void that spicy chili peppers have now filled. In the spirit of keeping things new and exciting there is a small population of people brave enough to put their mouths through this sort of… torture. But even they have to draw the line somewhere, and this newfound KILLER chili might be it.

I say KILLER because I mean it quite literally, this chili pepper is so hot it could very well murder you. This chile, dubbed Dragon’s Breath, puts the previously “hottest chili ever” and it’s cousin the habanero to damn shame. Cultivated by one Mike Smith in North Wales, Dragon’s Breath, ranks a whopping 2.48 million on the Scoville scale. The Carolina Reaper, is measured at 2.2 million. And if you’re anything like me and have no idea what those numbers mean- military-grade pepper spray is measured at a cool 2 million.

OK, maybe you don’t scare easily with numbers, maybe you’re more of a visual learner- not a problem. Dragon’s Breath is in fact so hot that it has not been consumed by any human mouth yet because that 2.48 million amount of capsaicin could torch your airways, causing them to close up and you’d go straight into anaphylactic shock, so yeah just picture that.

Just in case you thought chilis were made solely for human consumption, let me be the first to disappoint you, Dragon’s Breath was created to help aid anyone who may be allergic to anesthetics. According to Smith, the pepper is literally so hot it can be used to numb the skin. Scientifically speaking, this is a breakthrough for chili cultivation, so we have that to applaud.